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The adverse impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global tourism industry necessitated several responses from policymakers in order to support the industry's recovery and post-pandemic growth. Southern Africa hosts tourism-sensitive and connected economies, with many tourists who arrive in one country, often visiting neighbouring countries. Using the United Nations World Tourism Organisation's policy framework for COVID-19 mitigation, recovery, and stability for the tourism industry, this paper critically examined the Southern Africa's level of support for mitigating the impact of the pandemic and their recovery strategies for the tourism industry. Data were collected from publicly available policy and strategic documents. Findings reveal non-compliance to referenced benchmarks, lack of regional policy direction from SADC, and divergent levels of support among the member countries. The paper recommends, among others, a revision of the SADC's regional tourism programme, collaborative tourism governance through increased regional integration, and improved destination attractiveness of the Southern African region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses bioethics in the context of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic. The Introduction (Section 1) highlights that at the field's inception, infectiousness was not front and center. Instead, infectious disease was widely perceived as having been conquered. This made it possible for bioethicists to center values such as individual autonomy, informed consent, and a statist conception of justice. Section 2 urges shifting to values more fitting for the moment the world is in. To find these, it directs attention to the Global South, and in particular, Africa, and to the values of ubuntu, solidarity, dignity, kinship, and humility. The paper concludes (in Section 3) that 21st‐century challenges facing bioethics are increasingly global, and calls on bioethicists themselves to be more globally inclusive in their approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: In December 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the urgent need for rapid collaboration, research, and interventions. International research collaborations foster more significant responses to rapid global changes by enabling international, multicentre research, decreasing biases, and increasing study validity while reducing overall research time and costs. However, there has been low uptake of collaborative research by African institutions and individuals. Aim: To systematically review facilitating factors and challenges to collaborative surgical research studies conducted in Africa. Methodology: A meta-research review using PubMed®/MEDLINE and Embase on surgical collaboration in Africa from 1st of January 2011 to 31st of September 2021 in accordance to PRISMA guidelines. Surgical studies by collaborative groups involving African authors and sites were included (55 papers). Data on the study period, geographical regions, and research scope, facilitating factors, and challenges were extracted from the studies retrieved from the search. Results: Most of the collaborations in Africa occurred with European institutions (76%). Of the 54 African countries, 63% (34/54) participated in surgical collaborations. The highest collaboration frequency occurred in South Africa (11%) and Nigeria (8%). However, most publications originated from Eastern Africa (43%). Leveraging synergies between high- and low- to middle-income countries (LMICs), well-defined structures, and secure data platforms facilitated collaboration. However, the underrepresentation of collaborators from LMICs was a significant challenge. Conclusion: Available literature provides critical insights into the facilitating factors and challenges of research collaboration with Africa. However, there is a need for a detailed prospective study to explore the themes highlighted further. Systematic review registration: PROSPERO 2022 CRD42022352115. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The emergence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has brought an unprecedented burden on health systems and personnel globally. This pandemic potentially can result in increased frequency of stress and burnout experienced among healthcare workers (HCWs), especially in lower-and-middle-income countries with inadequate health professionals, yet little is known about their experience. This study aims to describe the range of research evidence on occupational stress and/burnout among HCWs compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa, as well as identify research gaps for further investigations to inform health policy decisions towards stress and/burnout reduction in this era and when a future pandemic occurs. Method: Arksey and O'Malley's methodological framework will be used to guide this scoping review. Literature searches will be conducted in PubMed, CINAHL, SCOPUS, Web of Science, Science Direct, and Google Scholar for relevant articles published in any language from January 2020 to the last search date. The literature search strategy will include keywords and Boolean and medical subject heading terms. This study will include peer-reviewed papers about Africa, with a focus on stress and burnout among HCWs in the COVID-19 era. In addition to the database searches, we will manually search the reference list of included articles as well as the World Health Organization's website for relevant papers. Using the inclusion criteria as a guide, two reviewers will independently screen the abstracts and full-text articles. A narrative synthesis will be conducted, and a summary of the findings reported. Discussion: This study will highlight the range of literature HCWs' experience of stress and/or burnout including the prevalence, associated factors, interventions/coping strategies, and reported effects on healthcare services during the COVID-19 era in Africa. This study's findings will be relevant to inform healthcare managers plan to mitigate stress and/or burnout as well prepare for such future pandemics. This study's findings will be disseminated in a peer-review journal, scientific conference, academic and research platforms, and social media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the COVID-19 pandemic has differentially affected the productivity of researchers from different backgrounds and showcase the factors that are responsible for these inequalities. Data for this study were collected using an electronic questionnaire via Qualtrics, distributed to researchers across Africa. Three hundred and eleven Participants completed the questionnaire in August/September 2020. Our results show that although overall time spent working during COVID-19 has increased, this has not translated into enhanced levels of productivity. Researchers are spending about 22 hours per week extra working than before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Male researchers were able to spend more time on publications, patents, and consulting activities than their female counterparts.. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Psychological well-being is fundamental to survival behaviors, quality ties with others, and social support interactions. It entails substantial elements for optimal flourishing. Yet little attention is given to the well-being of Africans during the COVID-19 pandemic, considering Africans perceive a sense of environmental control and positive relationships with others as signs of living a purposeful and meaningful life. The present paper's aim was to provide a comprehensive understanding of the psychological well-being of Africans during the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing measures. Method: Searching four databases (PubMed, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and Scopus) with the keywords "mental health," "well-being", "COVID-19," "pandemic," "social distancing," and "Africa" in articles published between 2019 and 2021. Eligible studies were critically assessed for methodological quality before inclusion. Studies outside these specified years were excluded from the search because of their non-inclusion of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: Findings revealed the development of a conceptual view of the psychological well-being of Africans during the COVID-19 pandemic that includes four key components: (1) individual factors, such as pre-existing mental health conditions, coping strategies, and social support, that may influence psychological well-being; (2) societal and cultural factors, such as stigma and discrimination, that may impact mental health outcomes; (3) the impact of social distancing measures on mental health, including isolation and loneliness, economic stressors, and changes in daily routines; and (4) potential interventions to promote psychological well-being, such as teletherapy and online support groups. Conclusion: It is suggested that academics and policymakers exercise caution when using social-physical distancing as a one-size-fits-all solution to combat COVID-19 or future pandemics. Thus, due to turbulent times such as the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important that academics begin to make concerted efforts to investigate the social identities of people, paying closer attention to unique activities or practices that ensure their happiness. Overall, we suggest a greater incorporation of community-based interventions, whereby cultural beliefs and practices are introduced to promote mental health and well-being in African populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Africa has the highest rates of maternal deaths globally which have been linked to poorly functioning health care systems. The pandemic revealed already known weaknesses in the health systems in Africa, such as workforce shortages, lack of equipment and resources. The aim of this paper is to review the published literature on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on maternal and child health in Africa. The integrative review process delineated by Whittemore and Knafl (2005) was used to meet the study aims. The literature search of Ovid Medline, CINAHL, PubMed, WHO, Google and Google scholar, Africa journals online, MIDIRS was limited to publications between March 2020 and May 2022. All the studies went through the PRISMA stages, and 179 full text papers screened for eligibility, 36 papers met inclusion criteria. Of the studies, 6 were qualitative, 25 quantitative studies, and 5 mixed methods. Thematic analysis according to the methods of Braun and Clark (2006) were used to synthesize the data. From the search the six themes that emerged include: effects of lockdown measures, COVID concerns and psychological stress, reduced attendance at antenatal care, childhood vaccination, reduced facility-based births, and increase maternal and child mortality. A review of the literature revealed the following policy issues: The need for government to develop robust response mechanism to public health emergencies that negatively affect maternal and child health issues and devise health policies to mitigate negative effects of lockdown. In times of pandemic there is need to maintain special access for both antenatal care and child delivery services and limit a shift to use of untrained birth attendants to reduce maternal and neonatal deaths. These could be achieved by soliciting investments from various sectors to provide high-quality care that ensures sustainability to all layers of the population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent outbreak of COVID-19 resulted in high fatality rates globally and huge socio-economic consequences. Vaccine development was considered as the most effective and fastest means to reduce the risks associated with the disease. All hands were on deck for effective vaccine development which resulted in several countries including African countries participating in the vaccine solidarity trial. At the heat of the pandemic in 2021, Africa with a population of 1.4 billion had 134.5 million supplies of COVID-19 vaccines. The United States in contrast with a population of 332 million had over 375 million doses of the vaccine. This was one of the factors that hindered most African countries from meeting up with the World Health Organization (WHO) target of 40% fully vaccinated individuals by December 2021. Even in some African countries where there were early and good supplies, there was vaccine wastage due to near to expire vaccines supplied to such countries which resulted in misconception and rejection of the vaccines among the public. This paper discussed the politics of COVID-19 vaccine production and distribution with its effects on Africa using documentary analysis. The paper also suggests strategic bold steps needed to be taken by African countries to decolonize public health response within the continent in preparation for future pandemics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses multidisciplinary international research collaboration team formation during the COVID-19 pandemic, challenges faced, strategies adopted, achievements and dynamics in the implementation of research on Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19), by the African Translational Research Group (ATReG). The paper also discusses the lessons learnt and future opportunities for global collaborative research. In-depth virtual interviews were conducted with consenting members of ATReG. Questions were designed to provide rich, deep, and insightful opinions, lived experiences and perspectives of ATReG group members on group formation, challenges, strategies and achievements. Interview data was transcribed and analysed thematically, and the results were presented with important quotations presented. The ATReG consisted of English (n = 13) and French (n = 1) speaking sub-Saharan African (SSA) researchers who specialise in public health, epidemiology, optometry, information technology, supply chain management, psychiatry, community health, general medical practice, nutrition and biostatistics. Most members of the group reported an informal but well-coordinated structure of the group. Formed during the pandemic, all group meetings were held online, and many members are yet to meet each other in person. The group collected data from Africans and published 10 peer reviewed journal articles on COVID-19 within two years. It presented in international conferences, engaged with the media and the public and was awarded a national competitive funding in Nigeria all of which which contributed to career progression and academic promotion of some members. There have been challenges in sustaining the research collaboration and maintaining productivity. Challenges include difficulties meeting deadlines and obtaining funding for research activities. However, these challenges have been addressed through a collaborative problem-solving approach. The study found the need for operational and methodological flexibility, centralised coordination, and established funding sources as being essential for long term sustainability and performance of the group. The ATReG's objective of providing useful data on COVID-19 and generating useful knowledge about COVID-19 in SSA has been achieved. In such a multi-disciplinary international collaborative team relaiant on the online medium to operate, the experiences and challenges can be a model for learning for researchers intending to form international multidisciplinary collaborative groups. Nonetheless, there are still many important areas of research which ATReG will continue to pursue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Africa, refusal of COVID-19 and other vaccines is widespread for different reasons, including disbelief in the existence of the virus itself and faith in traditional remedies. In sub-Saharan countries, refusal is often made worse by opposition to vaccines by the religious establishments. This is a pressing problem, as Africa has the highest vaccine-avoidable mortality rate for children under the age of five in the world. Dialogue between those wishing to promote vaccines and those who resist them is essential if the situation is to be improved. This article argues that Western and other aid agencies seeking to promote vaccination programs need to develop a dialogue with resisters, and in this process to embrace and commend the ancient African philosophical tradition of Ubuntu, incorporating it into these programs as a way to overcome such entrenched resistance. The paper concludes with concrete recommendations for how to accomplish this goal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the risk of oversimplification, virtually all research that scrutinizes COVID-19 is propelled by identical points of departures which chief in their assessment, portray how the pandemic accentuates the likelihood of illiberal or autocratic regimes tightening restrictions upon civil liberties. This paper is no different as it is predicated along this initial starting point but is also carrying an ambition to bring to light how the pandemic context, perhaps counterintuitively has also provided authoritarian governments with the platform to uptake provisions that bring about a veneer of civil rights and the potential which this vacillation between increasingly authoritarian and considerably liberal approaches in handling the virus generates. This paper is offset by Foucault's theorizing on Governmentality and illuminates on how African governments have responded to the virus in the textbook manner Foucault envisages. In so doing, it challenges the generally advanced idea that Governmentality is only applicable in Western liberal contexts by looking at African countries response to the COVID-19 pandemic that has enlisted classic Governmentality techniques such as disciplinary power, surveillance and power/knowledge monopoly by African states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital agriculture solutions hold a promise to build agri-food food systems that are more efficient, environmentally sustainable, and inclusive, thereby contributing to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals. In most African countries, the rapid adoption of mobile phones and other digital tools have accelerated the deployment of agricultural services for farmers and other value chain actors resulting in enhanced access to information, knowledge, financial services, markets, and farm tools. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has provided a unique opportunity to fast-track the deployment of contact-free digital solutions along the agri-food value chains. Despite the numerous opportunities presented by the digital agricultural revolution, its potential to transform agri-food systems in Africa remains uncertain. With a broad perspective on Africa, this paper explores the emerging evidence on digital agricultural services including key drivers, evidence on impact, and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper concludes with some implications for policy makers and professionals in agricultural economics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the transferable (soft) skills articulated in a Research Management (RM) Professional Competency Framework (PCF). The Framework was developed, prior to COVID-19, from continentally anchored RM praxis in Africa. While the Southern African Research and Innovation Management Association (SARIMA) Framework (2016) includes nine key 'technical' competency areas for respective RM organizational levels (administrative, management and leadership), it is the RM transferable skills that have been brought to the forefront in the current complex COVID-19 environment. This article is therefore a timely focus on what RM practitioners offer as 'human-being' professionals and not only knowledgeable experts. The paper therefore contributes to novelty in terms of mindfully integrating the personal into the professional practice architectures, and, as such, reinforcing work-life integration based on what it means not only to "know" and "do" within a profession, but also to "be" a professional. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to ignite a conversation on the challenges of the ongoing 'novel' surrounding the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic in the Southern Africa region. The global COVID-19 pandemic started with the outbreak in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. It is understood that different countries, regions and territories will have different, context-specific challenges in fighting the pandemic. These will differ from country to country and therefore necessitates contextual research. By sharing African perspectives on swift action against this coronavirus, this paper is intended to appraise the nexus between the coronavirus and tourism in order to prepare tourism practitioners for the recovery strategies that will be needed to address the damages caused by the pandemic. This paper points to tourism researchers focusing on the Southern African region and possible key areas for further research as the coronavirus situation unfolds. It draws from published material and document analysis, including from academic research, media reports and social media platforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2016, fall armyworm (FAW) has threatened sub-Saharan 'Africa's fragile food systems and economic performance. Yet, there is limited evidence on this transboundary pest's economic and food security impacts in the region. Additionally, the health and environmental consequences of the insecticides being used to control FAW have not been studied. This paper presents evidence on the impacts of FAW on maize production, food security, and human and environmental health. We use a combination of an agroecology-based community survey and nationally representative data from an agricultural household survey to achieve our objectives. The results indicate that the pest causes an average annual loss of 36% in maize production, reducing 0.67 million tonnes of maize (0.225 million tonnes per year) between 2017 and 2019. The total economic loss is US$ 200 million, or 0.08% of the gross domestic product. The lost production could have met the per capita maize consumption of 4 million people. We also find that insecticides to control FAW have more significant toxic effects on the environment than on humans. This paper highlights governments and development partners need to invest in sustainable FAW control strategies to reduce maize production loss, improve food security, and protect human and environmental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Several studies have been conducted on effects of COVID-19 on health, social and economic situation. However, evidence on the African continet on the responsiveness to sexual gender-based violence during the COVID-19 pandemic has not been adequately documented. This paper systematically reviews evidence from the African context regarding how countries responded to sexual gender-based violence during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: Drivers shaping the occurrence of SGBV included social and political responsiveness. The forms of SGBV experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic included; sexual; social- economic; physical emotional and domestic violence. Factors affecting responsiveness towards SGBV includes; limited availability or accessibility to the justice system, challenges accessing health services, inadequate human resources, fear of contracting COVID-19, social and economic barriers, and breakdown of social networks. Strategies for enhancing responsiveness included; training support, status on referral and linkages systems, protection services such as shelters and safety services, helplines and hotlines/communication, and collaboration on SGBV response. Conclusion: There is need to strengthen broader systems responsiveness through collaboration by creating strategies that promote reduction of SGBV. These strategies should include; community engagement to shift social -cultural norms towards gender and sexuality, creating social development opportunities for empowering and enabling women and girls with self-help and reliant activities, leveraging on community health systems structures to detect, link and monitoring of SGBV cases as well as co-integration of traditional justice system into the mainstream. Subjects: Behavioral Medicine; Community Health; Preventative Medicine; Allied Health; Health & Society [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic severely affected everyday life in Africa, a continent that is known for its high levels of religious belief. Using a corpus of news articles and the social representations research paradigm, this study examines African understandings of the pandemic. It uses installation theory, the wind rose model and the accommodation hypothesis to explore the coexistence between science and belief. The accommodation hypothesis demonstrates that the representations were hierarchical, to elevate God above science. Faith leaders also used the pandemic to enhance faith by blaming sin and urging repentance or blaming science by espousing conspiracy theories about the pandemic being a grand design to draw believers away from God. This paper highlights the great disparity in experience between Africa and the West, initially fuelling conspiracy theories. The findings also reinforce two key conceptual approaches: installation theory on the influence of rules imposed by society on behaviour, and the wind rose model in which representations change over time and in response to social interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic which emanated from Wuhan city, China and its successive spread across the globe has made a tremendous impact on virtually all spheres of human endeavors; ranging from economy, health, livelihood, and education amongst others. The widespread restrictions currently placed on movement and mass gatherings have made educational and academic activities be restructured to a pedagogical order. In recent times, the concept of learning has gradually transitioned from traditional classroom methods to online learning where students acquire knowledge through "hybrid". Most institutions of learning in Africa may encounter difficulties in migrating to this new form of learning due to the lack of information and communications technology (ICT) facilities of international standards. As of today, many students possess internet-enabled devices, yet cannot access the internet as a result of unaffordable data subscriptions, which has made most learners result in using their devices for non-educational purposes. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to ravage the African continent returning to its former modus operandi by African schools is a herculean task. Thus, governments, authorities, and regulatory bodies in individual countries must improve their existing ICT and infrastructures for a better online learning experience. This paper serves as a wake-up call for Africa and its educational sector to establish online learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both developing and developed countries have felt the impact of COVID-19 on global politics and trade. The African continent faces new threats in addition to already existing challenges like poor infrastructure, underdevelopment and weak institutions. Through an analysis of official speeches and UN reports on the emerging developments around COVID-19, this paper explores the impact of the pandemic on Africa and answers the critical question of the potential and place for Africa's international relations in a post-COVID world. While many argue that COVID-19 has further deepened the gap between Africa and the developed world, this paper argues that it has also created opportunities for innovation and a re-emergence of Africa as a more vital continent in global politics and far removed from its colonial legacy. This study finds that Africa's vast resources and wealth of experts; its innovative local industries and rapid response potential; its active community and grassroots; its committed private sector; the work of the African Union; the continent's geopolitical and economic position, and its many lessons position it to be a strong player in a post-COVID world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 17th Sustainable Development Goal seeks to promote partnerships at various levels. To this end, COVID-19 vaccines development partnerships in the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) are inevitable in facilitating ethical access to affordable and safe vaccines the world over. With South Africa being part of the BRICS, its presence can assist in leveraging the partnership to ensure that COVID-19 vaccines developed by the BRICS are efficiently deployed in Africa. Through the tracking of announcements, documents and critical discourse analysis, and Geographical Information Systems, this paper investigates COVID-19 vaccines development collaboration in the BRICS and its implication for Africa. It emerges that there is an inherent discord in the BRICS, with bilateral arrangements both within and outside the forum being evident. This has resulted in advance breakthrough COVID-19 vaccines from China and Russia not widely tried across the BRICS. The paper notes that these developments weaken the global south and affect its potential to develop COVID 19 vaccines. The work recommends a reconsideration in terms of COVID-19 vaccines development and future proofing of collaboration within the BRICS and finding a way of having South Africa continue to lobby for affordable and accessible vaccines for Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Africa has a history of grappling with outbreaks and high prevalence of disease. It currently confronts COVID-19 which is escalating because of local community transmission of the disease. Poorly resourced health systems in Africa are ill-prepared for the surging number of COVID-19 cases. This paper emphasizes that in the current battle against COVID-19, policymakers should not lose sight of future policy challenges. COVID-19 vaccine has become available, but patent exclusivities might play a major role in hindering access to it. With little or no indigenous pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity of its own, Africa will almost entirely rely on importing COVID-19 vaccines or treatment from third parties. The World Trade Organization's (WTO's) Paragraph 6 System, which relates to export-oriented compulsory licensing, is excessively formal and does not suit a pandemic situation which requires swift action. This paper draws policymakers' attention of to a high priority policy concern for Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of the paper was to conduct a legal-realist assessment of the South African prison system response to COVID-19. Severely congested and ill-resourced prison systems in Africa face unprecedented challenges amplified by COVID-19. South Africa has recorded the highest COVID-19 positivity rate in Africa and, on March 15th 2020, declared a national state of disaster. The first prison system case was notified on April 6th 2020. Design/methodology/approach: A legal-realist assessment of the South African prison system response to COVID-19 in the 12 months following initial case notification focused on the minimum State obligations to comply with human rights norms, and the extent to which human, health and occupational health rights of prisoners and staff were upheld during disaster measures. Findings: A legal-realist account was developed, which revealed the indeterminate nature of application of South African COVID-19 government directives, ill-resourced COVID-19 mitigation measures, alarming occupational health and prison conditions and inadequate standards of health care in prisons when evaluated against the rule of law during State declaration of disaster. Originality/value: This legal-realist assessment is original by virtue of its unique evaluation of the South African prison system approach to tackling COVID-19. It acknowledged State efforts, policymaking processes and outcomes and how these operated within the prison system itself. By moving beyond the deleterious impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the already precarious South African prison system, the authors argue for rights assurance for those who live and work in its prisons, improved infrastructure and greater substantive equality of all deprived of their liberty in South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Omicron variant was first found in Botswana, southern Africa, on November 9, 2021. The variant has many mutations and spreads quickly. It also has immune escape to existing COVID-19 vaccines, and the infection rate and repeated infection rate have increased worldwide. For such variant, at this stage, foreign countries mainly adopt three strategies to prevent and control the epidemic. First, big data is used to track the potential infection of the epidemic, trace the spread of the epidemic, screen close contacts, and control the scope of infection. The second is to maximum the coverage rate of vaccination, especially the coverage rate of the third injection, so as to reduce the infection level of Omicron variant. At last, they are developing a general coronavirus vaccine to prevent infection caused by SARS-CoV-2 variants, including the Omicron variant, so as to fundamentally eliminate the potential threat of variants to human beings. In this paper, three major epidemic prevention strategies of Omicron variant abroad were summarized in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bats are the natural reservoir host for many pathogenic and non‐pathogenic viruses, potentially spilling over to humans and domestic animals directly or via an intermediate host. The ongoing COVID‐19 pandemic is the continuation of virus spillover events that have taken place over the last few decades, particularly in Asia and Africa. Therefore, these bat‐associated epidemics provide a significant number of hints, including respiratory cellular tropism, more intense susceptibility to these cell types, and overall likely to become a pandemic for the next spillover. In this systematic review, we analysed data to insight, through bat‐originated spillover in Asia and Africa. We used STATA/IC‐13 software for descriptive statistics and meta‐analysis. The random effect of meta‐analysis showed that the pooled estimates of case fatality rates of bat‐originated viral zoonotic diseases were higher in Africa (61.06%, 95%CI: 50.26 to 71.85, l2% = 97.3, p < 0.001). Moreover, estimates of case fatality rates were higher in Ebola (61.06%; 95%CI: 50.26 to 71.85, l2% = 97.3, p < 0.001) followed by Nipah (55.19%; 95%CI: 39.29 to 71.09, l2% = 94.2, p < 0.001), MERS (18.49%; 95%CI: 8.19 to 28.76, l2% = 95.4, p < 0.001) and SARS (10.86%; 95%CI: 6.02 to 15.71, l2% = 85.7, p < 0.001) with the overall case fatality rates of 29.86 (95%CI: 29.97 to 48.58, l2% = 99.0, p < 0.001). Bat‐originated viruses have caused several outbreaks of deadly diseases, including Nipah, Ebola, SARS and MERS in Asia and Africa in a sequential fashion. Nipah virus emerged first in Malaysia, but later, periodic outbreaks were noticed in Bangladesh and India. Similarly, the Ebola virus was detected in the African continent with neurological disorders in humans, like Nipah, seen in the Asian region. Two important coronaviruses, MERS and SARS, were introduced, both with the potential to infect respiratory passages. This paper explores the dimension of spillover events within and/or between bat–human and the epidemiological risk factors, which may lead to another pandemic occurring. Further, these processes enhance the bat‐originated virus, which utilises an intermediate host to jump into human species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the world battles the latest strain of the coronavirus known as COVID-19 characterized as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO), "infodemics" - an excessive amount of (mostly untrue) information about the pandemic that makes it difficult to discern essential information - has been identified by the health body as one of the major obstacles to be tackled to win the war against the raging pandemic. In a bid to control spread of the virus, the WHO published a guideline on Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) to COVID-19, noting these responses are vital for containment. The COVID-19 pandemic is testing and stretching health systems and their ability to effectively communicate with their populations. Failure to communicate accurate public health facts could lead to losses of trust, reputation, economy, and lives. This paper turns its searchlight on nongovernmental and community-based organizations (NGOs and CBOs) in Africa, and how they handle infodemics in an information environment battling not just a health pandemic, but a hoax pandemic too. Methods: The study employed mixed method, with data drawn from Africanbased NGOs and CBOs via online questionnaire and interviews against the backdrop of the Situational Theory of Publics. Findings reveal, based on what NGO/CBO survey respondents report their local clients think, that many at the grassroots still do not believe COVID-19 is real, while others view it as government's scheme to embezzle funds. NGO/CBOs therefore look to WHO and Health Ministries for accurate information. It concludes that RCCE with the public and atrisk populations help reduce confusion and builds trust in the public health guidance community members can take thereby restricting the disease spread as an outcome of the RCCE approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Corona Virus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has negatively impacted teaching and learning globally, imposing widespread closure of schools from the elementary to tertiary levels. As of 14 April 2020, teaching activities of over 1.75 billion students globally were disrupted in about 200 countries that have implemented full or partial lockdown across the world. At the time of writing, the duration of the current pandemic cannot be ascertained. Therefore, the teaching and learning process should also adapt to the new normal, which includes suitable social distancing, self-isolation and other disruptive guidelines outlined by the World Health Organization. Thus, more than ever, COVID-19 has now emphasized the necessity to embrace different and flexible methods of teaching and, by extension, learning. Therefore, e-teaching and e-learning have emerged as complementary solutions that reduce disruption to educational activities. Despite having a solution in online teaching to reduce the effect of COVID-19 on education, it's noteworthy that the solution is not available to every educator, learner and school, especially in developing countries. In developing countries, especially across Africa, lack of awareness of the existing online teaching resources and their suitability for remote attendance teaching and lack of skill sets required for using the resources are the issues impeding online teaching. This paper reviews and evaluates twenty-two (22) remote attendance teaching resources, their special features and system requirements. The technical requirements, suitability, and limitations of each application are considered. The implementation challenges of using the resources are discussed, and some solutions are recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to propose that the development and legitimization of African knowledge and validation systems on a pragmatic basis is an efficient and effective means of responding to a myriad of health problems plaguing Africans, particularly the COVID-19 pandemic. Whenever there is a novel disease outbreak, the norm is to wait for the development of scientifically proven vaccines for its treatment. However, the scientific validation of drugs is a rigorous and lengthy process, thereby inappropriate for dealing with health emergencies like the COVID-19 outbreak. The alarming rapidity with which the novel COVID-19 pandemic rages globally and decimates humanity has brought to the fore the need for Africa to look inwards in search of viable and efficient alternative approaches to the pandemic. In this paper, I examine pragmatism as a theoretical framework and relate it to proposed African epistemic and validation frameworks with a particular reference to homegrown orthodox and alternative/complementary medicines. I argue that the validation and approval of any knowledge claim based on pragmatism is a more expeditious mode of attending to COVID-19 and other prevalent diseases in Africa. The application of knowledge that brings practical success in dealing with health challenges in Africa without necessarily following rigid and lengthy scientific validation procedures will go a long way toward improving human conditions and well-being. I conclude that pragmatic considerations should ultimately inform local approval to homegrown African medicines for use in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the high transmission rate and mortality index of the current coronavirus pandemic, many settings in Africa instituted lockdowns to reduce its rate of spread and avert exponential growth rate. At the early stage, this measure seemed to heighten awareness of the virus and subsequently minimized exponential growth of cases. However, these lockdowns have had great consequences on the weak health systems and frail economy in place in many African countries. In this paper, we examine the impact of lockdown measures in these countries and provides key recommendations in dealing with present and future pandemics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using an original survey, this paper examines how pandemic-driven insecurities have affected aspirations to migrate internationally among youth in The Gambia. We find that individuals perceive wide inequalities between their government's performance and the speed of Covid-19 recovery abroad. However, superior recovery abroad does not have significant effects on aspirations to migrate. Individual and local sources of security are more important: Individuals who were able to maintain their jobs throughout the pandemic are less likely to aspire to move abroad. The insecurity of Covid-19 job loss may be compensated by confidence in one's government's ability to tackle the pandemic. This suggests that, in the context of an event that has upended people's lives, would-be migrants who managed to maintain a source of stability may seek comfort in familiar contexts; even if they appear worse than alternatives abroad. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pandemic of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) took the world by surprise. Following the first outbreak of COVID-19 in December 2019, several models have been developed to study and understand its transmission dynamics. Although the spread of COVID-19 is being slowed down by vaccination and other interventions, there is still a need to have a clear understanding of the evolution of the pandemic across countries, states and communities. To this end, there is a need to have a clearer picture of the initial spread of the disease in different regions. In this project, we used a simple SEIR model and a Bayesian inference framework to estimate the basic reproduction number of COVID-19 across Africa. Our estimates vary between 1.98 (Sudan) and 9.66 (Mauritius), with a median of 3.67 (90% CrI: 3.31–4.12). The estimates provided in this paper will help to inform COVID-19 modeling in the respective countries/regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The world is experiencing the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic – from lockdown restrictions to economic uncertainty. Though troubling, the COVID-19 crisis presents an opportunity to galvanize support to strengthen urban planning's capacity in Africa. This paper draws on the global response to the pandemic to proffer three lessons that can bolster planning action to respond to health, spatial and socio-economic challenges confronting African cities: (i) recognition of urban planning as an urgent public health activity; (ii) emphasizing urban planning's innate capacity to address health crises; and (iii) citizen engagement to accept planning measures. These lessons are likely to improve urban planning action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The contribution of African authors to the biomedical literature is small. We evaluated the African and non‐African scientific production published in the international literature on the COVID‐19 in Africa during the first year of the epidemic (2020). Methods: Papers on COVID‐19 in Africa were extracted from the Medline (PubMed) database for bibliometric analysis including the proportions of three leading and last authors by study type, study country, authors' and laboratories/institutions' countries of affiliation and journal ranking. Results: A total of 160 articles fulfilling the inclusion criteria were analysed. The majority (91.3%) was produced by half (53.7%) of African countries, with important regional disparities, and generally without sources of funding mentioned. The majority (>85.0) of authors in lead positions (first, second, third and last authors) were Africans. Only a small number (8.7%) of studies on COVID‐19 in Africa were carried out by laboratories not on the African continent (mainly Europe, USA and China) and generally received funding. The last and first authors were more frequently of non‐African origin in journals with an Impact Factor ranking ≥1, and more frequently of African origin in journals with a lower ranking (< 1). The first and last non‐African authors tended to report their studies in high ranking ≥1 journals. Conclusions: Our study demonstrates that the emergence of promising African research capable of publishing in indexed but low‐impact factor medical journals and reveals the persistence of a North‐South asymmetry in international cooperation in biomedical research with Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-medication is an important initial response to illness in Africa. This mode of medication is often done with the help of African traditional medicines. Because of the misconception that African traditional medicines can cure/prevent all diseases, some Africans may opt for COVID-19 prevention and management by self-medicating. Thus to efficiently predict the dynamics of COVID-19 in Africa, the role of the self-medicated population needs to be taken into account. In this paper, we formulate and analyse a mathematical model for the dynamics of COVID-19 in Cameroon. The model is represented by a system of compartmental age-structured ODEs that takes into account the self-medicated population and subdivides the human population into two age classes relative to their current immune system strength. We use our model to propose policy measures that could be implemented in the course of an epidemic in order to better handle cases of self-medication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Every year, about 4 million cases and 143,000 deaths due to cholera are recorded globally, of which 54% were from Africa, reported in 2016. The outbreak and spread of cholera have risen exponentially particularly in Africa. Coupled with the recent emergence of the Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19) in Africa, the local health systems are facing a double burden of these infectious diseases due to their cumulative impact. In this paper, we evaluate the dual impact of cholera and COVID-19 in Africa and suggest plausible interventions that can be put in place to cushion its impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zika virus remains endemic and opportunistic of high transmission in the tropical region of Africa, and the repeated cases of the Zika virus in Africa made it public health emergency in 2016. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the catastrophic cases of unknown and unreported deaths overwhelming the region of Africa could not give health attention to respond to other endemic diseases. Here, we present the possible complication and challenges associated with the Zika virus in Africa and COVID-19 predominance, shifting the attention from the Zika virus surveillance. This paper determines to enlighten the reader about the situation, the efforts to curb the transmission of both the Zika virus and the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the report recommends sustainable solutions that can lessen the threat to public health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Morbidity and mortality in children due to COVID-19 remained low • Adolescents had higher reported cases than younger children • Reported cases were lower in pediatric population than adult population • Testing protocols vary between countries; reflects bias in reported cases Few data on the COVID-19 epidemiological characteristics among the pediatric population in Africa exists. This paper examines the age and sex distribution of the morbidity and mortality rate in children with COVID-19 and compares it to the adult population in 15 Sub-Saharan African countries. A merge line listing dataset shared by countries within the Regional Office for Africa was analyzed. Patients diagnosed within 1 March and 1 September 2020 with a confirmed positive RT-PCR test for SARS-CoV-2 were analyzed. Children's data were stratified into three age groups: 0-4 years, 5-11 years, and 12-17 years, while adults were combined. The cumulative incidence of cases, its medians, and 95% confidence intervals were calculated. 9% of the total confirmed cases and 2.4% of the reported deaths were pediatric cases. The 12-17 age group in all 15 countries showed the highest cumulative incidence proportion in children. Adults had a higher case incidence per 100,000 people than children. The cases and deaths within the children's population were smaller than the adult population. These differences may reflect biases in COVID-19 testing protocols and reporting implemented by countries, highlighting the need for more extensive investigation and focus on the effects of COVID-19 in children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The outbreak and spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is probably the most serious global challenge since World War II. While research has paid considerable attention to the technical, epidemiological and public health aspects of the pandemic in Africa, it neglects the social, economic and political dimensions. Relying on analysis of data on trends of COVID-19 infections from the World Health Organization and Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, and a rapid review of available international and national policy/programme documents on COVID-19 control responses in Africa, this study assessed the extant protocols and responses to COVID-19 in relation to urban governance principles. Utilizing the political economy framework, the social conditions of informal labour and business activities during the COVID-19 pandemic are explored with accession to social habitus of informality. The paper argues that in as much as the COVID-19 pandemic is a pervasive health problem it should be treated more as a social and political economy challenge given the large informal nature of urbanism in Africa. The study concludes that urban governance that incorporates collective organization, community groups, non-state and informal actors offers scope in the battle against COVID-19 in Africa. Rethinking African urbanism in line with the principles of the Global Campaign on Urban Governance is also canvassed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The outbreak of the coronavirus in December 2019, with its accompanying declaration as a pandemic by the World Health Organisation in March 2020, resulted in lockdown of the global financial markets. This paper uses data from pre-coronavirus, coronavirus endemic and coronavirus pandemic periods to evaluate the impact of coronavirus pandemic on stability of Africa stock markets, sovereign bond markets and U.S. dollar exchange rates in Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria and South Africa as well as Africa Sharia equity and Sukuk indices. Findings from study suggest that Africa financial markets became very unstable during the coronavirus pandemic than during the endemic and pre-coronavirus periods. Results from bivariate regression model show evidence of negative impact of coronavirus pandemic on financial market returns. The results further show that Africa financial markets return volatility increases as the number of coronavirus cases increases. Overall, the findings suggest that coronavirus has negative impact on financial markets’ returns and exacerbated financial markets instability thus retarding sustainable economic development in the continent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As African countries battled the Covid-19 crisis in 2020, one of the questions that were raised was whether the state was taking a central stage in the affairs of society, especially solutions to major problems. The question was triggered by the fact that there has been a decline in the capacity, role and prestige of the state in Africa for decades. Yet it seems that the responses to Covid-19, following the WHO guidelines, have placed the state at the centre, without dislocating other stakeholders like the private sector and the civil society. This paper uses the evidence from a select number of African countries of different sizes in various regions of the continent to provide an empirical perspective on the role of the state in Covid-19 responses in 2020 to answer the question of whether Covid-19 has occasioned a return of the state, thus reversing the neoliberal designs in favour of a lean and mean state in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Widespread vaccination provides a means for countries to lift strict COVID-19 restrictions previously imposed to contain the spread of the disease. However, to date, Africa has secured enough COVID-19 vaccine doses for less than 5% of its population. With widespread vaccination not on the horizon for Africa, there is a strong emphasis on non-pharmaceutical interventions which include movement restrictions (lockdowns). This general COVID-19 pandemic response of imposing lockdowns, however, neglects to factor in non-fatal consequences leading to disruption socio-economic wellbeing of the society at large. The economy in most African countries can no longer sustain lockdown restrictions. Some studies have indicated that a hard lockdown statistical value of the extra lives saved would be dwarfed by its long-term cost. At the same time not responding to the threat of the pandemic will cost lives and disrupts the social fabric. This paper proffers ways to mitigate the both and advocate for better policymaking that addresses specific challenges in defined communities thus yield higher population welfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the determinants of the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) in Africa, based on the framework of social determinants of health. Applying Poisson Pseudo Maximum Likelihood (PPML) and quantile regressions to panel data and country‐specific socioeconomic background data from 53 African countries, the study finds that enhancing capacity for early testing helps for timeous uncovering of cases, early isolation and contact tracing for effective control of the spread. Other factors such as managing of international movements through reduction of international exposure and ensuring better sanitation and hygiene were found to be relevant in diminishing COVID‐19 spread, whereas alcohol consumption and population density heighten the spread. The work also highlights that stringent measures will be counter‐productive unless they are coupled with measures to create and preserve livelihoods, together with humanitarian relief assistance to the poorest segments of the population. The results are robust to alternative techniques. As policy recommendations, we implore African governments to the promotion of sustainable livelihoods and social safety nets as measures to accompany stringent lockdowns; and good sanitation programmes to become a lifestyle of citizens. Careful attention should be paid to the socioeconomic trade‐off in respect of international travel restrictions given the high dependence of most African economies on tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper studies the effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic on African economies and household welfare using a top‐down sequential macro‐micro simulation approach. The pandemic is modeled as a supply shock that disrupts economic activities of African countries and then affects households' consumption behavior, the level of their welfare, and businesses' investment decisions. The macroeconomic dynamic general equilibrium model is calibrated to account for informality, a key feature of African economies. We find that COVID‐19 could diminish employment in the formal and informal sectors and contract consumption of non‐savers and, especially, savers. These contractions would lead to an economic recession in Africa and widen both fiscal and current account deficits. Extreme poverty is expected to increase further in Africa, in particular if the welfare of the poorest households grows at lower rates. We also use the macroeconomic model to analyze the effects of different fiscal policy responses to the COVID‐19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Black bodies have been the site of devastation for centuries. We who inhabit and love these bodies live in a state of perpetual mourning. We mourn the disproportionate dying in our families, communities and the dying in the black diaspora. We are yet to come to terms with the death that accompanied the AIDS pandemic. Tuberculosis breeds in the conditions within which most of us live. We die from hours spent in the belly of the earth where we dig for minerals to feed the unquenchable thirst of capital. Malaria targets our neighbors with deathly accuracy. Ebola stalks west Africa where it has established itself as a rapacious black disease. It kills us. In the black diaspora, African Americans are walking targets for American police who kill and imprison them at rates that have created a prison industrial complex. Africans die in the Mediterranean ocean and join the spirits of ancestors drowned centuries ago. With South Africa as the point of departure, this paper stages a transcontinental examination of black death. It is animated by the following questions. What are the dimensions of black death, what is its scale and how is it mourned? What does the COVID-19 pandemic mean for we who are so intimately familiar with death? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Covid-19 has become a major issue of academic and social discourses. Lives, livelihoods, communities and businesses have been seriously disrupted by its dramatic spread across the globe. Statistics reveal that 55 countries are affected in Africa and South Africa is the most affected with 1.55million out of 4.32million cases in Africa, as at April 8, 2021. The pandemic has prompted a number of responses from governments, individuals, business organisations and Non-governmental Organisations (NGOs) to inventive and reduce the impact on public health and economic challenges. Although some of these were taken as part of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities, their contributions appeared to go beyond their traditional CSR efforts. This paper seeks to establish the extent of Coca-Cola and Mobile Telephone Network’s (MTN) responses to the challenges of the pandemic in Nigeria and South Africa. Data used were extracted from grey literature and online search to examine the two companies’ corporate social responsibility in health emergency situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 has affected the global provision of neurosurgical services. We sought to review the impact of COVID-19 on the neurosurgical services in Africa. A cross-sectional survey was distributed to African neurosurgeons seeking to review demographics, national and neurosurgical preparedness, and change in clinical services in April 2020. A total of 316 responses from 42 countries were received. Of these, 81.6% of respondents were male and 79.11% were under the age of 45 years. In our sample, 123 (38.92%) respondents were in training. Most (94.3%) respondents stated they had COVID-19 cases reported in their country as of April 2020. Only 31 (41.50%) had received training on managing COVID-19. A total of 173 (54.70%) respondents were not performing elective surgery. There was a deficit in the provision of personal protective equipment (PPE): surgical masks (90.80%), gloves (84.80%), N95 masks (50.80%), and shoe covers (49.10%). Health ministry (80.40%), World Health Organization (74.50%), and journal papers (41.40%) were the most common sources of information on COVID-19. A total of 43.60% had a neurosurgeon in the COVID-19 preparedness team; 59.8% were concerned they may contract COVID-19 at work with a further 25.90% worried they may infect their family. Mental stress as a result of COVID-19 was reported by 14.20% of respondents. As of April 2020, 73.40% had no change in their income. Most African countries have a national COVID-19 policy response plan that is not always fully suited to the local neurosurgery services. There is an ongoing need for PPE and training for COVID-19 preparedness. There has been a reduction in clinical activities both in clinic and surgeries undertaken. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of the study is to conduct an exploratory review of the COVID-19 pandemic by focusing on the theme of COVID-19 pandemic morbidity and mortality considering the dynamics of Artificial Intelligence and Quality of life (QOL). The methods used in this research paper include a review of literature, anecdotal evidence, and reports on the morbidity of COVID-19, including the scope of its devastating effects in different countries such as the US, Africa, UK, China, and Brazil, among others. The findings of this study suggested that the devastating effects of the Coronavirus are felt across different vulnerable populations. These include the elderly, front-line workers, marginalised communities, visible minorities, and more. The challenge in Africa is especially daunting because of inadequate infrastructure, financial, and human resources, among others. Besides, AI technology is being successfully used by scientists to enhance the development process of vaccines and drugs. However, its usage in other stages of the pandemic has not been adequately explored. Ultimately, it has been concluded that the effects of the COVID-19 are producing unprecedented and catastrophic outcomes in many countries. With a few exceptions, the common and current intervention approach is driven by many factors, including the compilation of relevant reliable and compelling data sets. On a positive note, the compelling trailblazing and catalytic contributions of AI towards the rapid discovery of COVID-19 vaccines are a good indication of future technological innovations and their effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) dissemination occurred from December 2019 and quickly spread to all countries. Infected patients with COVID-19 have had a wide range of symptoms, ranging from mild to severe illness. The most mortality was observed in patients with underlying disease and over 45 years. World statistics have shown that the COVID-19 outbreak is most expanded in Middle Eastern, West Asian, European, North, and South American countries, and is least expanded in African countries. Therefore, the aim of the paper was the evaluation of six African countries including Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Guinea, Togo, and Djibouti to find why this disease is least expanded in African countries. Study was conducted by Questioner for countries health organizers to define their different aspect exposure and fight with COVID-19 including epidemiology, clinical aspects of the disease, case definitions, diagnosis laboratory confirmation, and referral of cases by the portal of entry, case management, and disease prevention in these countries. According to this opinion review, due to the low international flights and low domestic travel, the spread, and prevalence of COVID-19 was low and the return of the immigrants of these countries has caused the spread of COVID-19 among these countries. Experience, preparation, and impact of previous infections epidemic such as the Ebola virus epidemic would have beneficial, which have promoted certain reflexes among people that cause low dissemination in these countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Street vending practices are common in Africa and cater to a large portion of the continent's population. Since the identification of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Africa, various governments have implemented measures to control the spread of infection. These measures may have an adverse effect on street vending practices. This paper demonstrates the extent to which COVID-19 measures of control and prevention affects street vending practices in Africa and how it can be remedied. There has been reduced economic growth and increased hunger among individuals involved in street vending practices due to the prohibitions put in place by governments. Measures directed at curbing the spread of the virus inadvertently affect street vending practices and vendors. Current and future pandemic response plans should reflect the integration of measures directed at reducing potential hardship and a further economic set back for individuals involved in street vending practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper provides a preliminary assessment of COVID-19's impact on global poverty in the light of IMF's growth forecasts. It shows that the pandemic will erode many of the gains recorded over the last decade in terms of poverty reduction. Our baseline case suggests that globally the number of people living below US$1.90 per day will increase by 68 million in 2020 alone; this rise could however approach 100 million, should the recession turn out to be more severe than initially expected, as many practitioners fear. Without effective international support, this setback will pose a critical threat to the achievement of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The fallout from the pandemic will also exacerbate the geographic concentration of poverty, to the extent that the Least Developed Countries, with only 14% of the global population, are set to represent the main locus of extreme poverty worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Since the first case of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Africa was detected on February 14, 2020, the cumulative confirmations reached 15 207 including 831 deaths by April 13, 2020. Africa has been described as one of the most vulnerable region with the COVID-19 infection during the initial phase of the outbreak, due to the fact that Africa is a great commercial partner of China and some other EU and American countries. Which result in large volume of travels by traders to the region more frequently and causing African countries face even bigger health threat during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, the fact that the control and management of COVID-19 pandemic rely heavily on a country's health care system, and on average Africa has poor health care system which make it more vulnerable indicating a need for timely intervention to curtail the spread. In this paper, we estimate the exponential growth rate and basic reproduction number (R0) of COVID-19 in Africa to show the potential of the virus to spread, and reveal the importance of sustaining stringent health measures to control the disease in Africa. Methods: We analyzed the initial phase of the epidemic of COVID-19 in Africa between 1 March and 13 April 2020, by using the simple exponential growth model. We examined the publicly available materials published by the WHO situation report to show the potential of COVID-19 to spread without sustaining strict health measures. The Poisson likelihood framework is adopted for data fitting and parameter estimation. We modelled the distribution of COVID-19 generation interval (GI) as Gamma distributions with a mean of 4.7 days and standard deviation of 2.9 days estimated from previous work, and compute the basic reproduction number. Results: We estimated the exponential growth rate as 0.22 per day (95% CI: 0.20–0.24), and the basic reproduction number, R0, as 2.37 (95% CI: 2.22–2.51) based on the assumption that the exponential growth starting from 1 March 2020. With an R0 at 2.37, we quantified the instantaneous transmissibility of the outbreak by the time-varying effective reproductive number to show the potential of COVID-19 to spread across African region. Conclusions: The initial growth of COVID-19 cases in Africa was rapid and showed large variations across countries. Our estimates should be useful in preparedness planning against further spread of the COVID-19 epidemic in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]